I got my 3 year zero last week. And - Dr. Jason Engel finally got his study published which included me. He tracked 73 high risk patients who used only robot-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomies (RALP) and nothing else. I qualified as a high risk guy and the age range started at 52 (I was 52 so I don't know if that was me, but there was nobody younger). High risk was PSA >than 10, and/or Gleason >8 on the final pathologic evaluation, and/or stage >pT3. All of these measurements are "greater than or equal to."

Some of the bottom lines are: With follow up to 85 months (average 31 months) there is a recurrence-free survival rate of 77%. The average recurrence was at 7 months - so if it recurs, it is usually pretty quickly. Once again, this is RALP only.

The study is in the Journal of Endourology, Volume 24, Number 12, December 2010. Title: Oncologic Outcome of Robot-Assisted Laparoscopic Prostatectomy in the High-Risk Setting.

Engel is associated with the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC.

So, I applaud the guy for sticking his stats out there. He is seriously into getting real data out, and he did a bang-up job for me. I saw him for possibly the last time last week. He told me to have my PSA checked annually, and call him if there is a problem. No more trips to DC for me!

Surgery is not the answer for everybody, and I am not suggesting it is.

KCRAGMAN:congrats on the zero - here's to a lifetime of themsmithmeek.com/tatt2man - glad to see your doc's work published - publish or perish - good for him - good for you - and good for us - there is hope -hugs,BRONSON

good stuff...40 years old - Diagnosed at 40Robotic Surgery Mount Sinai with Dr. Samadi Jan, 2011 complete urinary control and good erections with and without medsProstate was small, 34 grams.Final Gleason score 7 (3+4)Less than 5% of slides involved tumorTumor measured 5 mm in greatest dimension and was located in the right lobe near the apex.Tumor was confined to prostate.The apical, basal, pseudocapsular and soft tissue resection margins were free of tumor.Seminal vesicles were free of tumor.Right pelvic node - benign fibroadiopse tissue. no lymph node is identified.Left pelvic node - one small lymph node, negative for tumor (0/1)

Posting again with the hopes that my stats will show. Thanks for good words, guys.

kcragmanAge: 55; 52 at DXMarch 2006: PSA 2.5Dec 2007: PSA taken for insurance application. I did not see the results until late Jan '08 - after I was rejected. Their lab said PSA 4.5. Feb 2008: PSA 3.7.March 2008: Biopsy. Gleason 7 (4+3) 12 cores taken. 5 on the left side were cancerous and the 6th was suspect. May 5, 2008: Da Vinci robotic laparoscopy at GW Hospital, Washington DC. Doctor: J.Engel

kcragmanAge: 55; 52 at DXMarch 2006: PSA 2.5Dec 2007: PSA taken for insurance application. I did not see the results until late Jan '08 - after I was rejected. Their lab said PSA 4.5. Feb 2008: PSA 3.7.March 2008: Biopsy. Gleason 7 (4+3) 12 cores taken. 5 on the left side were cancerous and the 6th was suspect. May 5, 2008: Da Vinci robotic laparoscopy at GW Hospital, Washington DC. Doctor: J.Engel

kcragmanAge: 55; 52 at DXMarch 2006: PSA 2.5Dec 2007: PSA taken for insurance application. I did not see the results until late Jan '08 - after I was rejected. Their lab said PSA 4.5. Feb 2008: PSA 3.7.March 2008: Biopsy. Gleason 7 (4+3) 12 cores taken. 5 on the left side were cancerous and the 6th was suspect. May 5, 2008: Da Vinci robotic laparoscopy at GW Hospital, Washington DC. Doctor: J.Engel

Congratulations! I almost chose Dr Engel but decided to stay on my side of the river and save some driving time. In that study do you know what was his definition of recurrence?Age: 66PSA: 7 tests over 2 years bounced around from 2.6 to 5.6Biopsy 8 of 12 positive, Gleason 3+4, T2aDaVinci August 2009, pathology Gleason 4+3, neg margins, T2c Continent right away, ED Viagra, Cialis did't work, Trimix works wellPost-surgery PSA:3, month: undetectable

reachout: Yeah, I live in Fairfax. My wife is a has a PhD in anatomy, and is a pretty sharp researcher, and when we first met with Engel, his almost exact words were: You won't come across the river, so go ahead and ask me anything. I'll tell you anything you want to know. So several discussions later, we decided to cross the river. In his study, recurrence is "postoperative PSA level > or equal to 0.2."

rob2: Early on I told my wife that all of this would be a bad memory, and so fortunately it has turned out to be. I am well (coaching my 35th girls soccer team in 31 seasons over 19 years), and I hope you are the same.

Hi kcragman, - Congratulations! Was the post-op Gleason 9, a (4+5) or (5+4)? I assume your "undetectable" post-op PSA 's have consistantly been LESS THAN 0.1 (<0.1 ng/ml)? What was the clinical (pre-surgical) STAGE assigned to your disease? Thanks and I wish you continued success. - John@newPCa.org (aka) az4peaks

Ouch, you are rattling the old brain cells there. I had to go back and dig thru my medical pile, I mean file. Post op I was a Gleason 9 4 + 5, with 15% of the prostate involved.

Undetectable: I believe the standard measurement methods don't go below 0.1, so if you have a 0.1 they assume you are a zero. All my doctor says is that I am undetectable so I assume it is a 0.1.

My pre-surgical stage was a T2 - and both my wife and I forget the following alpha. She does not believe I was an "a," but I cannot find in my papers exactly what I was. I actually had the biopsy done in Fairfax, VA by a urologist that I liked a lot, but he only did open surgery, and I wanted to go robotic - so I went to DC to find the best guy I could.

I hope this answers your questions. If you have any others, please let me know. (PS: I have to be considered fully functional - especially with viagra - on the ED side. I developed a case of pyronie's like A MONTH before I started this PCa drill, so the combo has left me a little, um, short of expectations, but like I said, I have to be considered fully functional. I still wear one light pad a day because I have a few drips every day and I just cannot stop it, but I consider that a very small price to pay to remain above ground.)

Congratulations and all the best to you for a lifetime free of prostate cancer recurrence....TimAge 62 PSA quadrupled in one year (0.6 to 2.6) DRE negative Retested at 3 months 1 of 12 biopsies positive (< 5%) G6RP open surgery June 2006 at age 57Bilateral nerve-sparingOrgan-confined to small area, downgraded to G5Prostate weight 34 gramsPSAs < 0.1